It is October 29, 2014; the venue is the Apollo Theatre. The phenomenal Milton Samms performs before the usual packed Harlem crowd and walks away a winner. You and I know that in order to win Amateur Night at the Apollo, one has to “bring it” to the 125th Street iconic theatre; not an easy feat, just ask the countless others that have attempted.
Milton Samms was born on the Caribbean island of Jamaica on May 22nd 1984. While many of us grew up “in Church” Milton included, it was while attending Duhaney Park Primary School the singer discovered his vocal ability, singing in an operatic classical style. Born to musical parents (his father a roots reggae singer), for Milton the transition to the reggae genre was an easy one.
Milton’s voice is pure, with a vibrato that honestly, mesmerizes. I interviewed Milton at the Logwood Productions studios located in Bronx, NY and asked him to sing to me the song that won him the coveted title “Winner of Amateur Night et al”. He simply started to sing; there was no “ah hem”, no warm up, no clearing of the voice, he just sang. After hearing his rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”, I was a fan; it really was a jaw dropping experience.
Milton is a chef by day and made it clear that he is an international chef. While he loves to cook food from his place of birth, Jamaica, he is a versatile chef and can cook pretty much any dish one requests.
Milton has performed with several greats such as Shabba Ranks and Chris Martin. He had the opportunity to perform alongside Richie Stevens at the 2014 Linkage Awards “Sweet Jamaica” at Mingles in Bronx, NY and on hearing his set, Stevens asked him to join him on stage for a duet.
Music means a lot to this artist and he gives his all to his artistry. His personal listening list includes the late great Peter Tosh. When asked why this particular artist, Milton exclaims, “It’s the vocal tone, quality and the message in his music why he is on my music list, Tosh was a unique singer”.
Milton’s current track entitled “This Christmas” features Kameron and Grabba on the Calico Mix Machine label. On March 29th, 2015 he will grace the stage in a Thomas Empowered Radio Show production alongside personalities like Ragashanti, Dean Fraser and Hesron, at York College Performing Arts Center in Queens.
